A report commissioned by the town of Jasper says crews did their best to fight last year's devastating wildfire but the Alberta government complicated the response. The report was based on surveyed participants and firefighters who battled the blaze that destroyed much of the mountain town. It says the Alberta government wasn't jurisdictionally responsible to lead the crisis but made things more difficult with regular information requests and by seeking to exercise decision-making authority. The report says incident commanders had their focus disrupted and were forced to spend precio

B-C Health Minister Josie Osborne says she's reinstated funding for drug coverage for a ten-year-old Langford girl who suffers from a rare neurodegenerative disease. Osborne says she spoke to Charleigh Pollock's family on Thursday evening and told them that the funding will be available for as long as her doctor and the family deem appropriate. The minister says a letter from experts on Batten disease confirmed that there's ``significant disagreement'' about the drug Brineura, which costs around $1 million a year. Pollock is the only person in B-C with the disease, and one of around 2

Canada’s National Housing Agency says eliminating interprovincial trade barriers could lead to 30,000 more new homes being built in Canada each year. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said in a report Thursday that this would bring the total number of annual housing starts to nearly 280,000, a meaningful step toward addressing Canada’s housing supply gap. To achieve this goal, Canada will need to reduce provincial barriers that hinder transportation infrastructure from west to east, said CMHC chief economist Matthew LeBridge. The agency said this would help maximize the use of

Surrey Police Service is taking over patrols on the West Side of South Surrey from RCMP on July 28. SPS will also take over street patrols on the East Side on November 20. This information was provided by Chief Constable Norm Lipinski. Lipinski said that we are fully prepared for this transition and are working closely with our RCMP partners to ensure that this transition can happen smoothly. This is another phase in the ongoing transformation of Surrey Police Service, with SPS gradually taking over full responsibility as the city’s police force. The transition process is expected to be co

A large haul of suspected cocaine has been seized during a search of a pickup truck at a B.C. border crossing. The Canada Border Services Agency said it was being smuggled into Canada. The statement said that on June 11, officers searched a pickup truck at the Osoyoos Port of Entry and found 70 kilograms of suspected cocaine in the form of bricks, equivalent to an estimated 144,000 individual doses. The driver was not named and has not yet been charged, but the Canada Border Services Agency said he was turned over to police. Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandsangri called it a ma

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a meeting with First Nations leaders today that Bill C-5 is going to bring prosperity to their future generations. Carney said that Bill C-5, passed by Parliament in June, is designed to strengthen and transform our national economy at a time when Canada is facing threats from Trump. The Prime Minister said that the potential benefits from the construction of new railways, ports and energy corridors will go to First Nations because Indigenous economic development is at the heart of this new framework. Carney said that the government will ensure that major

Premier Danielle Smith and her Alberta Next panel were in Edmonton Wednesday for the second in a series of summer town halls, but ran into a far less supportive crowd than the night before in Red Deer. Smith launched the panel to address public concerns over Prime Minister Mark Carney's election win and gauge interest in new ways Alberta could wrestle some power away from Ottawa. The ideas proposed by Smith's panel include creating a provincial pension plan, the Alberta Revenue Agency, and launching a new immigration permitting system. The proposals had clear support in Red Deer, but

Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard is retiring from the game of lawn tennis, Tennis Canada announced today. The 31-year-old Bouchard will play her last international tournament on her home turf. She will be seen playing in the National Bank Open in Montreal, starting July 26. Bouchard has had a career full of ups and downs. During the 2014 season, she reached a ranking of world number 5 in the WTA rankings. During that season, Bouchard also reached the final of the Wimbledon Grand Slam, where she lost to Petra Kvitova. In 2012, Bouchard won the junior Wimbledon title. Tennis Canada announ

International students Gaganpreet Singh and Jagdeep Singh have been sentenced to three years in prison and deportation after being convicted of a horrific hit-and-run incident in Surrey last year. During the hearing, it was revealed that they deliberately dragged a pedestrian for 1.3 kilometres after hitting him and then leaving his body on the road before fleeing. The pair were in a Ford Mustang, which Gaganpreet was driving and Jagdeep Singh was a passenger. Surrey RCMP responded to a report of a pedestrian being hit in the 13400-block of 105 Avenue around 1:45 a.m. on January 27, 2024. Ga